During the motorcade there were bullhorn orders to people to get off roofs and to close windows. But later, security did not seem as rigid as it was in the morning. The preparations had been expertly carried out, and the obvious affection of the crowd made officials relax.

“This visit will strengthen the faith of every Catholic in the U.S.,” said a woman from Troy, New York, who had come the day before with her 9-year-old daughter.

Mrs. John McHugh of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, saw a bigger picture: the implications for peace in the pope’s United Nations appearance. She had been there with her daughter-in-law. “The Holy Father reminded us that we are too proud, and it is true! We look down on other people, both those from emerging nations and the ones right here in our own country. God never intended that way. I think Pope Paul’s message will inspire people. Whether this visit can bring about peace — that remains to be prayed for.”

James Ferris, a Greek Orthodox waiter in a 2nd Ave. restaurant near the UN, was thinking of inter-religious dialogue. “A wonderful man. I like his trips to other counties. They are doing a great deal to break down prejudice. Yes, I was impressed when he met Greek Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras in the Holy Land.”

And then James Ferris said it all, for the U.S.: “But this time he came here, to my country!”

The cheering in Yankee Stadium turned into a gasp from 90,000 throats as the luminous reed of a man stood up in the open car just after beginning his circle-and-a-half of the stadium. Then the cheering mounted, flashbulbs popped like a thousand fireflies in the stands, a nun made the Sign of the Cross, and priests waved black hats in the air.

It was the climax of a day full of thrilling encounters between the Catholic pope and pluralistic America. The crowd in Yankee Stadium to assist at the papal Mass was the first to see him in an open car without a bubble top, looking radiant and untired by his exhausting day, in a setting specifically designed for him.

Bunting in papal gold and white decorated the stands; billboards were covered with blue drapes; the flags of the pope, the U.S., and the United Nations flew; and the altar waited, shimmering gold and white in the center of the field.

The cheering, which had mounted to a thunder as Pope Paul stepped briskly up the steps to the altar, subsided as he knelt before it to prepare for Mass. During the sacrifice the elevated trains slid by the stadium, slowed to a whisper, and more flashbulbs popped from their windows.

The crowd had been rehearsed in the hymns and responses before the Mass began, but never was participation so spontaneous. The Rev. Horace Hughes of the United Church of Christ in Cresskill sang out, “Praise to the Lord!” and answered the Pontiff’s prayers, “Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.” He said he was thrilled to be there, especially since he grew up “feeling shut out of the Catholic Church,” but now, like other Protestants, “felt welcome.”

Peace was the word that recurred most frequently in the Proper of the Mass. “Peace be to you,” the commentator pointed out, was Christ’s farewell to his Apostles at the Last Supper, the first Mass.

As the Vicar of Christ in 1965 stood before a microphone in Yankee stadium preaching a sermon, the feedback and his Italian accent made it almost impossible to understand what he was saying. Still, one oft-repeated word was heard by all; it was peace. “You must love peace. Peace must be built. Peace be to you.”

The Prayer of the Faithful, too, was a plea for “that peace which the world cannot give,” in the words of St. Francis of Assisi, the poet of peace and the saint of the day. Rendered in the languages of the United Nations: English, French (by an African), Spanish, Chinese, and Russian (by lay lectors) it summed up the day.

At the elevation of the newly consecrated Body and Blood of Christ, the pope slowly made a full turn so that all could see the Host and the Chalice he held, there on the circular platform.

After the Mass he greeted each of the 12 children to whom he had given Communion, and from whom he had received the Offertory gifts.

Many people watched with tears in their eyes the tender meeting between pope and children of many nations. Next, he greeted Orthodox clergymen in a scene reminiscent of the famous one when he and Patriarch Athenagoras exchanged the kiss of peace in the Holy Land.

Then he was back in the car, slowly making his way out of the stadium. More cheers, some choruses of “Long Live the Pope” (which sounded strange on the lips of Americans and were quickly replaced by the more familiar applause), cheers, waves, and remarks like that of Mrs. Joseph Then of Wayne: “It’s just wonderful, seeing the pope! He’s so human.”

Then he was gone, and the crowds stood there gaping after him, smiling, wondering a little if it all had really happened. CD

A Catholic Digest Classic, originally appeared in Catholic Digest January 1966. Condensed from the Advocate, 37 Evergreen Place, East Orange, NJ, 07102. Oct. 7, 1965. Copyright 1965 by the Advocate, and reprinted with permission.